This Day in Bonners Ferry History

100 Year

A fire which started in or near the apartment of Mrs. Mary Carlson, proprietress of the Bonner hotel, about 2:30 o’clock Friday morning, destroyed completely the Bonner hotel building and contents and the W.A. Alexander building, adjoining, containing the furniture stock of the Stookey Furniture Company. The furnishing of the Chinese restaurant, in the Bonner hotel, were also destroyed and between $500 and $600 damage was done to the plate glass and fixtures of the first State Bank building, the Casey hotel building, the International Dining Room and the Kinnear building occupied by the Western Union and Interstate Utilities Company. Soon after daybreak, the body of Gust Anderson, brother of Mrs. Mary Carlson, was found in the ruins of the Bonner hotel. The origin of the fire is unknown. Mrs. Carlson thinks it started in the kitchen of the Bonner restaurant and the Chinese restaurant men think it started in Mrs. Carlson’s room.

Prof. Maughan’s dancing pavilion on the Northside, recently caved in on account of the weight of snow on the roof. The lumber in the building was not seriously damaged and Prof. Maughan expects to use some of it in the spring in the construction of a new pavilion which is to be circular and will provide sufficient floor space to accommodate any crowd likely to gather in this city for years to come. It is planned to construct the music platform in the center of the building and overhead so that the entire floor space may be utilized.

The basketball team of the eighth grade of the Bonners Ferry school, defeated the Northside eighth grade team Wednesday after in the southside gymnasium by a score of 28 to 7. The game was the third of a series of which the Bonners Ferry team has won two games. Jack Macnamara refereed the game.

50 Year

A.A. “Ott” Neumayer, one of the best-known and well-liked men on the maintenance staff of Bonners Ferry high school, will end 38½ years of service as janitor at the school when he retires Dec. 31st. Ott started working at the high school in 1929 when the school was much smaller and was heated by a wood burner, and he handled thousands of cords of wood before the system was switched over to coal. He states that he shoveled “a few thousand tons of coal” before a conveyor system was installed in 1952.

It won’t cost you any more to speak your “two-cents worth” in 1968, but you’ll have to pay more to write it in a letter because increases in postal rates will go into effect on Sunday, Jan. 7th. On that date, it will cost an additional penny for first-class mailing; post cards will raise from four cents to five cents each; air mail jumps from eight to ten cents; and air mail post cards will go from six to eight cents each.

A record total of 86,225,000 board feet of timber was sold during 1967 by the Sandpoint area of the Idaho Department of Lands. Of the total, 31,260,000 board feet was fire-killed timber from the catastrophic Trapper creek and Sundance mountain fires.

15 Year

According to the song by ZZ Top, “There’s something about a sharp-dressed man.” We have to agree, especially when Rockey Burkholder gets spiffed up, puts on his best tux and takes along a copy of the Herald to impress everyone on a Caribbean cruise on the “Voyager of the Sea” in November.

“I don’t raise mean dogs. I don’t have mean dogs. I’ve never even had a dog that bit before. To have this happen is just unthinkable,” said Cherry Dunnington. She and James Dunnginton own the three pit bulls that attacked Denise Dickison, 49, last Tuesday as she was jogging on County Road 2. Dunnington plans to pay for her treatment. One of the dogs died shortly after the mauling, presumably hit by a car, although law enforcement officers at first surmised the other two had killed it. Dunnington, who could face charges of harboring vicious animals, plans to euthanize the two remaining 50-60 pound animals, currently quarantined at the pound.

Boundary County commissioners hope to select a new prosecuting attorney Dec. 31. They will interview the four applicants for the position, Jack Douglas, Brent Featherston, Dan Featherston and Todd Reed Dec. 30. The move came after the Boundary County Central Committee could find no qualified prosecuting attorney applicants with Boundary County. Instead, the committee submitted the names of three applicants from outside the county, Douglas and the Featherstons Reed, a Democrat according to the commissioners, applied also.

Seen N’Heard … Blame it on too many noon whistles, moose jerky or holiday egg nog – what else could explain the Sheriff’s Chief Deputy locking his keys in his car while it was running and having to call Sheriff’s Dispatch for help …